Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals:

• The Gap by Benjamin Gilmour
• V for Victory by Lissa Evans 
• The Antiquarian Sticker Book
• Gobbolino the Witch's Cat by Ursula Moray Williams
• They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell
• The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
• Reader's Digest War Stories 

All of the above were purchases made before the end of the year. My last-minute panic buys are on their way and then a few individual titles that I pre-ordered will trickle in and . . . well, that should be it for a good 6 months, since I can't go to library sales and haven't even been able to talk myself into buying the first Native American-authored book I intended to buy for this year's challenge. I'm just too happy with the idea of reading off my shelves. It's on my wish list, though. 

Books finished since last Malarkey:

• How to Get Away with Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce
• Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria
• Heart Berries by Teresa Marie Mailhot
• Dragon Mountain by Katie and Kevin Tsang
• CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders

Not a bad start to the year, but not a great one either. I've read 4 books, so far. I dropped my annual Goodreads goal to 75. Usually, I set it at 100 knowing that's a number I can hit easily. This year, I'm hoping to throw off the yoke of obligatory reads and read from my shelves almost exclusively (again, I can't bear to say no to children's books if they're offered). Hopefully, that will mean I finally, finally will get around to reading Gone With the Wind. I'd start it today if I didn't have one last tour book to finish and two ARCs. 

Currently reading:

• Georgana's Secret by Arlem Hawks
• A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler

Georgana's Secret is the tour book I mentioned above. A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain is my second volume of short stories, the first being CivilWarLand in Bad Decline. I think I've managed to read a short story per day, although CivilWarLand was "short stories and a novella" so one of them was technically a novella but whatever. I'm just enjoying my daily reading of a shorter work, so it counts. Until I set this goal, I don't think I realized how many unread anthologies and collections of short stories I had sitting around. I will probably have no problem at all finding 365 short stories to read. 

Posts since last Malarkey:

• How to Get Away with Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (book review)
• Happy New Year! and reading goals with a cat photo (goal list, cat photo)
• 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar, ed. by Michael Hingston (review of short story collection)
• Everything I didn't review in 2020: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Orphan Monster Spy, Devil Darling Spy, and Fear (mini reviews)
• Books Read in 2020 (a list with links)
• Fiona Friday - Winter snuggles (cat photo)

In other news:

Well, this last week was something, wasn't it? I'm still distressed by the horror, perhaps even moreso than I was on the day of the American Insurrection since more violent images have been released in recent days (including a Capitol police officer being dragged down steps and beaten by Trump supporters with, among other things, a flag pole containing an American flag). 

Unsurprisingly, we watched a lot of news. Husband was working from home during the Insurrection and I updated him or he'd sit for 5 minutes watching the coverage with me, between meetings and calls. We were glued to the TV on the evening of the 6th. 

Otherwise, I only recall watching the premier of the new All Creatures Great and Small. I'm sure we watched a smattering of other things but I don't remember any of them. It's all been blanked out by one awful day. I don't know how you convince people who have been told for 5 years that they can't believe anything or anyone but one person that they're wrong, it was a free and fair election and nobody's out to get them. It's deeply ingrained, at this point. I have a friend from way back who has been sucked into the QAnon black hole and utterly, completely believes every one of the crazy, made-up conspiracies. I finally gave up and unfriended her after she had nothing negative to say about the attempted coup and continued spouting conspiracies. It was painful. We've been friends for a very, very long time. But, people died because of the kind of lies she's helping perpetuate and I can't be a party to that. 

Can you tell I'm still riled up? It's been hard to sleep. What a rough year it's been for sleeping. I mean, the entire last year, not just 2021. I wasn't expecting 2021 to be a miraculous change from 2020, since we still have a long time till the majority are inoculated but . . . whoa. I certainly was not expecting January 6. Here's hoping for some major action to prevent similar violence in the future. 

And, to end on a lighter note, here's a photo of what happened, last night. Snow!!!!

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday - Winter snuggles

The time for winter snuggles is at hand. These two always start out a little apart. Then one or the other will stand up, stretch and settle back down, this time touching just a little. Then, another stretch and shift and so on. Eventually, they end up a lot closer than this little butt-touch but it's funny how they always start out acting like they want a warm spot by my feet but not together and then end up all cuddled up, often with limbs flopped over each other. I love winter. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Books Read in 2020

Links provided to all reviews (size of reviews varies). 

January:

1. Under the Jaguar Sun - Italo Calvino
2. You Were There Too - Colleen Oakley
3. What Red Was - Rosie Price
4. Sanditon - Jane Austen and Kate Riordan
5. Virus on Orbis 1: The Softwire - P. J. Haarsma
6. A Beginning at the End - Mike Chen
7. Almost Just Friends - Jill Shalvis
8. If Cats Disappeared from the World - Genki Kawamura
9. Why My Cat Is More Impressive Than Your Baby - Matthew Inman
10. Dragonshadow - Elle Katharine White


February:

11. Strange Planet - Nathan W. Pyle
12. American Dirt - Jeanine Cummins
13. The Lion and the Lyceum - Alex Beene and Taylor Weidemann*
14. The Sun Down Motel - Simone St. James
15. Crosstalk - Connie Willis
16. The World of Sanditon - Sara Sheridan
17. Freedom is a Constant Struggle - Angela Y. Davis
18. Red, White, and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
19. The Antidote for Everything - Kimmery Martin
20. Nerp! - Sarah Lynne Reul

March:

21. Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid
22. Promised - Leah Garriott
23. A Murderous Relation - Deanna Raybourn
24. And They Called It Camelot - Stephanie Marie Thornton
25. Darling Rose Gold - Stephanie Wrobel
26. The Suicide Run - William Styron
27. The Song of the Tree - Coralie Bickford-Smith

April:

28. Flamebringer - Elle Katharine White
29. The Love Story of Missy Carmichael - Beth Morrey
30. The Secret Lives of People in Love - Simon Van Booy
31. Sailing Alone Around the Room - Billy Collins
32. The Big Finish - Brooke Fossey
33. Horrorstör - Grady Hendrix
34. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard
35. Lakeshire Park - Megan Walker
36. Nature's Best Hope - Douglas W. Tallamy
37. The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany - Lori Nelson Spielman

May:

38. The Malady of Death - Marguerite Duras
39. Talkative Man - R. K. Narayan
40. All Systems Red (Murderbot #1) - Martha Wells
41. Orphan Monster Spy - Matt Killeen
42. Premeditated Myrtle - Elizabeth C. Bunce
43. The Paris Hours - Alex George
44. Psi-Man: Mind-Force Warrior (Psi-Man #1) - David Peters, aka Peter David
45. The Prisoner's Wife - Maggie Brookes

June:

46. Unflappable - Suzie Gilbert
47. Jacob the Baker - Noah ben Shea
48. Wow, No Thank You - Samantha Irby
49. The Jane Austen Society - Natalie Jenner
50. What You Wish For - Katherine Center
51. A Song Below Water - Bethany C. Morrow
52. Stranger Planet - Nathan W. Pyle
53. Devil Darling Spy - Matt Killeen
54. Bubble Kisses - Vanessa Williams and Tara Nicole Whitaker

July: 

55. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
56. The End of October - Lawrence Wright
57. Artificial Condition - Martha Wells
58. I Am I Am I Am - Maggie O'Farrell
59. The Good Girl - Mary Kubica
60. Stop! Bot! - James Yang
61. Tales from Outer Suburbia - Shaun Tan
62. The War I Finally Won - Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
63. The Plains - Gerald Murnane
64. They Called Us Enemy - George Takei, Elsinger, Scott, and Becker
65. Too Much and Never Enough - Mary L. Trump
66. Dominicana - Angie Cruz
67. On the Island - Tracey Garvis Graves

August:

68. Where Are the Galapagos Islands? - Megan Stine
69. The City We Became - N. K. Jemison
70. Finna - Nino Cipri
71. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? - Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD
72. Castle in the Clouds - Kerstin Gier
73. The Time of Green Magic - Hilary McKay
74. The Thing About Jellyfish - Ali Benjamin
75. Minnie's Room - Mollie Panter-Downes
76. The Readers' Room - Antoine Laurain
77. Agnes at the End of the World - Kelly McWilliams
78. Skunk and Badger - Amy Timberlake

September:

79. One Fine Day - Mollie Panter-Downes
80. Tokyo Ueno Station - Yū Miri
81. 5-Minute Pete the Cat Stories - James Dean
82. The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell - Robert Dugoni
83. Challenger Deep - Neal Shusterman
84. Finna - Nate Marshall

85. Girl in the Blue Coat - Monica Hesse

86. Fear - Bob Woodward

87. The Magic in Changing Your Stars - Leah Henderson

88. Running Out of Time - Margaret Peterson Haddix

89. Becoming - Michelle Obama

90. I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter - Erika L. Sánchez

October:

91. In Persuasion Nation - George Saunders

92. The People Speak: American Voices, Some Famous, Some Little Known - Ed. by Howard Zinn

93. Song of the Court - Katy Farina

94. Cat Knit - Jacob Grant

95. Writers and Lovers - Lily King

96. The Witch of Willow Hall - Hester Fox

97. Slade House - David Mitchell

98. The Wreck - Meg Keneally

99. All the Buildings in London: That I've Drawn So Far - James Gulliver Hancock

100. Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon

101. Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

102. Matrimony, Inc. - Francesca Beauman

103. I is for Illuminati - Chris Vola 

November: 

104. The Gentleman and the Thief - Sarah M. Eden

105. The Day the World Came to Town - Jim DeFede

106. Jonesy Flux and the Gray Legion - James Pray

107. The Museum of Forgotten Memories - Anstey Harris

108. Trumpocracy - David Frum 

109. A Castaway in Cornwall - Julie Klassen

December:

110. One Day in December - Josie Silver

111. The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas - Madeleine L'Engle

112. A Christmas Memory - Truman Capote

113. A Little House Christmas - Laura Ingalls Wilder

114. Cold Granite - Stuart MacBride

115. A Child's Christmas in Wales - Dylan Thomas

116. How to Walk Away - Katherine Center

117. 400 Minutes to Danger - Jack Heath

118. 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar - Various authors

119. How to Get Away with Myrtle - Elizabeth C. Bunce

*A few words within a post, no separate review



©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Everything I didn't review in 2020: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Orphan Monster Spy, Devil Darling Spy, and Fear

What? I only skipped reviewing 4 books in 2020? Wow, I did well. I'm impressed with me. 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard is a modern classic play based on Hamlet. And, here's where I stop being impressed with myself. I didn't review the play because I figured I should read its predecessor, Hamlet, and see how I felt about the original story before reviewing both, together. 

I didn't finish Hamlet. It made my head hurt. Plus, I had several other books going and it just fell by the wayside. At any rate, it took me some time to understand what was happening in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, but once I got into it and realized what was happening, I thought it immensely clever and even before I "got it", I was entertained by the dialogue. 

I still need to read Hamlet. But, I'm definitely glad I read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. 

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen was a reread. Here's my original review: 

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen

I reread Orphan Monster Spy because Killeen wrote a second spy novel starring Sarah, the young protagonist, a Jewish orphan who befriends a British spy and undertakes a dangerous mission to save the world from a deadly bomb being created in Germany. 

I enjoyed Orphan Monster Spy even more the second time. The first time I read it, I was uncomfortable with the place Sarah ended up going on her mission but this time I expected the level of harassment she endured and was able to concentrate on the more exciting, dangerous parts of the story. It was edge-of-your-seat the first time and doubly thrilling on the second reading. 

Unfortunately, I have talked to the author and I like him, so I felt awful when I didn't fall in love with Devil Darling Spy. In this follow-up to Orphan Monster Spy, Sarah and her spy friend go to Africa, where someone known as the White Devil is working on creating the ultimate biological weapon. People die painfully but quickly from the disease and the natives are being used as guinea pigs. 

They track down the area in which people are currently dying and masquerade as Germans who have been sent to check on the doctor's progress. 

My problem with Devil Darling Spy was that it tried to be about too many things at once: biological warfare, colonialism . . . I don't remember what else, now. I waited too long to review, not wanting to put anything bad out there. Sarah was not as strong a character in Devil Darling Spy as she was in Orphan Monster Spy, as well. And, I figured out the plot twist quite early in the book. 

Having said all that, if and when Matt Killeen writes another book starring Sarah, I will read it. I felt a little overwhelmed by the companion novel but I like Sarah and I am impressed with Killeen's writing. A lot of research must have gone into Devil Darling Spy. You can sense the effort put into it.

I wrote about Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward on Instagram or I would not have any idea what to say. I remember thinking much of it was not news to me because I've read so much about the president (I've been reading about him since the 80s), but Fear does add to the story. 

First things, first. Bob Woodward is apparently known for his meticulous research and impeccable sourcing but not for his writing. I agree with that. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was speaking. However, I got enough out of Fear that I bought its follow-up, Rage, and hope to get to that soon. 

Woodward talks about the president's unwillingness to listen and learn, his impulsiveness, his demands for loyalty and paranoia about anyone who doesn't pledge to be loyal to him, his refusal to look at anything in a way other than the transactional, the chaos in his administration, and his horrific temper tantrums, as well as how little time he actually spends working (he watches TV 6-8 hours a day; of course, now, he seems to do nothing but golf and tweet . . . and apparently make extortionate phone calls). These things were described in The Mueller Report, which I've read, and every other book I've read about the president except for Mary Trump's book. She's knowledgeable about the person but not the presidency. 

Fear was most interesting to me for the insights about the individuals who worked for the president early in the administration and how and why they ended up leaving. Those stories were quite detailed and interesting. I would not have known without reading Fear that the president was compelled to make a statement criticizing white nationalists after Heather Heyer's death in Charlottesville and then when he said there were "good people on both sides", that was his real thoughts spoken off-the-cuff. His clear dismissal of white nationalism as no big deal was too much for some of the people closest to the president. Several resigned immediately. He has, of course, done this repeatedly. First, people tell him he really has to condemn someone he doesn't want to because he thinks they'll vote for him; then he says what he wants to say and the people in charge of communication spin what he says as misunderstood or a joke, etc., or just give up and resign. Then, he's often forced to make a retraction or "clarifying" statement. The truth is always in the second statement, the one where he goes off-script. 

At any rate, all these books were worth reading and I'm glad I read them. 

That's it for 2020 reviewing! I will post my full list of books read with links to reviews or mini reviews and then I'll move on to 2021. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

2020 Short Story Advent Calendar, ed. by Michael Hingston

I've probably already mentioned that the Short Story Advent Calendar is something I've desired to purchase for several years but either didn't get there in time (they do tend to sell out) or didn't feel like I could justify the cost. This year, I remembered early enough to get my order placed before they sold out. 

There are 25 stories in the calendar and each is bound separately with a little round sticker to keep them closed. It is immensely satisfying to pop open a new story each night and curl up in bed with it. 

Fortunately, I also enjoyed most of the stories. A few fell flat for me but I enjoyed the experience so much that I was not bothered at all by the rare story that didn't work for me or left little question marks dangling over my head. There was quite a variety. I kept a notebook with a little synopsis of each and if I ever get back to buying books, I'm happy I'll have it to refer to. 

A few favorites:

"Over the Plum Pudding" by John Kendrick Bangs, originally published in 1901, is written in first person by a fictional former editor who feels obligated to explain why a volume of short stories "filled with Christmas spirit" but in reality closer to horror, was never published. "Over the Plum Pudding" is such a little masterpiece of humor that I wish I'd taken the time to see if I could find a collection by Bangs before my book-buying ban began. I may check Project Gutenberg, later on. 

"Four Minutes and 33 Pairs of Sweatpants" by Martin Riker tells the story of a musician whose first work of performance art drove away the man she'd been with for 10 years. I thought it was kind of amusing but what most caught my eye was the author's bio. Martin Riker is, it says, a Writer-in-Residence at Ole Miss, a school both of my kids attended. I could never talk them into taking advantage of classes taught by the many brilliant writers who work at Ole Miss, unfortunately. 

"Aviary" by Lysley Tenorio takes place in Manila. The poor children of Manila have never been inside the nearby mall. But when they find out they're banned from entering, they're offended and decide to enter and wreak havoc. What I really loved about "Aviary" is the way the author shows you the world of excess through the eyes of children who are accustomed to having almost nothing. Why, they wonder, would anyone want these sparkly, shiny, furry, smelly, unnecessary items? 

"The Decade I Kept on Getting Stabbed" by John Jodzio is only 4 pages long but it's one of my favorites because it is a riot. I don't want to give anything away, I loved it so much, but it's about a man who keeps getting stabbed and asking his friends what he's doing wrong. They make suggestions, he makes changes, but the stabbings continue. The ending is hilarious. 

"The Snowstorm" by Alexander Pushkin is about a young couple in love who plan to secretly marry. When a raging snowstorm hits on the day of their elopement, everything changes. This is the only short story from which I wrote down a quote:

Moral proverbs are wonderfully useful in those cases where we can invent little in our own justification. 

 

Highly recommended — While the 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar quickly sold out, I highly recommend buying one for future Advent seasons. It's a little pricey and I didn't love every story equally. A couple didn't work for me at all. But, it's an experience. I enjoyed the sensation of cracking open the tape, the joy of settling in for my daily story, the fun of being introduced to new authors . . . so much, in fact, that I'm trying to continue daily short story reading in 2021. 

Note: I was tempted to buy more but I only purchased one book based on my enjoyment of the short story: The Grand Tour by Adam O'Fallon Price, who wrote "Vera Something". I liked the way the author swept me into his unrequited love story and then ended it in a realistic way. 

Also worth mentioning: I have books by at least 3 or 4 of the authors, already.  Only one of the stories made me feel like, "Huh, do I really want to read the novel I own?" The rest have made me feel more motivated to read the books I have by those authors, and I'll probably go ahead and read the book by the author whose short story was literally the one that put me to sleep. She's gotten some very good buzz, in the past, so I'm not going to make any assumptions about how she writes in longer form. I'll just find out for myself. 

Do you enjoy short stories? The short story collection I'm currently reading is CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders. He is a master of short stories and I'm loving it. 

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Happy New Year! and reading goals with a cat photo

Happy New Year! Here's hoping 2021 is better in every way than 2020. I know we have some rough times ahead with Covid-19 surging and overwhelming hospitals but I have my fingers and toes crossed that the incoming administration will improve upon the current inoculation plan so that we can move toward herd immunity. 

My 2021 reading and bookish goals:

1. A year-long book-buying ban. I have a couple of exceptions. One is books by friends, the other dirt cheap books. But, the latter usually come from library sales and our former library with the perpetual sale corner is currently on curbside checkouts only, no entering the building. So, it should be easy to avoid buying any cheap books for a while and, to be honest, I'm so excited about reading off my shelves that I don't have any interest at all in buying, right now (although I did do a little last-minute panic buying). There's one more possible exception to the no-buying goal and that has to do with a second goal . . . 

2. Read books by Native American authors or about Native American history. I have plenty to start out with, so I won't need to buy any, right away, if at all. We shall see. There was a Native American reading challenge I wanted to join in on but if I saved the list of monthly reads, I sure can't find it. I was going to go ahead and pre-buy a few titles for that. If I ever come across the list and I've drained the titles I already have from my shelves, I might buy a couple. At the moment, I'm not interested in buying anything at all, though. I'm also not going to stress about quantity. I'd like to read one per month but I want this to be a relaxing reading year. 

3. Read off my shelves. That means not only no buying but no checking out books from the library and only children's books for review if they're offered. 2020 was not a big year for ARCs and that's good. I've loved reading books in advance of publication and being a part of the publicity machine because I love helping authors get attention, but it's time for me to take a step back. Children's books are the exception because they're quicker to read and there is always, always a need for children's books at local schools, so it's easy to find new homes for them once I've finished.

4. Read some of those chunksters I've been afraid to read for fear that they'd set me behind on ARCs. If I don't have many ARCs to deal with, I can spend more time reading fat books. Along with this goal goes the idea of reading fewer books. I'm going to wind back my normal Goodreads goal, probably to 75 instead of 100 books, just so I have an obtainable goal that will be enjoyable but lacks the pressure of shooting for reading a larger number. This has worked well for me, in recent years. 

5. Read a short story per day. I have a lot of anthologies and collections that have just been sitting around collecting dust and I so enjoyed the experience of reading a short story a day during Advent that I decided to continue reading short stories in the new year. If I don't succeed at reading one every day, again, not going to fret. But, I'm looking forward to it and have already picked out my first collection to dive into, by Isaac Asimov. 

That's it! I will post my last reviews for 2020, next week, including a post about any books I neglected to review. I did not set aside my favorite books, this year, so I'm not sure if I'll get around to doing a favorites list but I'd like to. Again, we'll see. This blog is getting a little loose and fluffy around the edges, after 14 1/2 years. I keep thinking of Goldie Hawn's line in the movie Housesitter, "I change myself all the time!" I love that line. Change is good. I spend more time doing creative things like painting, now, and my life feels a little more balanced because of it. 

Because it's Friday, here's Izzy Kitty looking crazy-eyed with a catnip Christmas gift:

Hope everyone had a nice, safe and happy transition into 2021! Happy reading!

©2021 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

How to Get Away with Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries, #2)

In this second installment of the middle grade Myrtle Hardcastle Mystery series, How to Get Away with Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce, young Myrtle has been sent on a train trip to the shore for vacation. She'd rather be home, studying law and medicine, and solving murders. But, Myrtle's father is in Paris at a conference and she's sent packing with her governess, Miss Judson, and the formidable (and not a little intimidating) Aunt Helena. She also brings her cat, Peony, along. Peony is a tremendous character and no ordinary cat. 

Things get off to an interesting start when Myrtle hears Mrs. Bloom, an insurance investigator, telling the owner of the train and the resort to which they're headed that his insurance policy on a valuable diamond and Alexandrite tiara will have to be cancelled if he doesn't follow the rules and put it in a safe, as specified. At that moment, it's in a display case for all to see. Then, it goes missing and Mrs. Bloom turns up dead with Aunt Helena's scissors in her back. Are the theft and murder connected? Is it possible that Aunt Helena's a murderer? What happened at the resort town that made Mrs. Bloom a friend to all? 

Myrtle has a little trouble getting involved in the investigation but once it becomes apparent that the railroad inspector is less than competent because of his unwillingness to listen to female witnesses and then Aunt Helena is arrested for the murder, Miss Judson bends to Myrtle's will and they're on the job. They summon a friend to help with the legal aspect (a familiar character from the first in the series) and slowly unwind the mystery. 

Highly recommended but I advise reading the series in order - It's the characters and the dialogue that make How to Get Away with Myrtle such a delight. The cast is fairly large and that's probably my only complaint but it's a minor one because they're all so well delineated that there's never any confusion from one character to the next. I simply found the cast size a little unwieldy and would have to think for a minute or two to remember previous encounters when they were reflected upon. At any rate, I like Myrtle and Miss Judson. I loved the way what appeared to be related threads were broken off into separate stories that were satisfying unto themselves. And, I really adore the young lawyer called in to help, who calls Myrtle "Stephen" for reasons I don't entirely recall, although I remembered him as soon as Myrtle described him. A very satisfying mystery with loads of charming scenes and a few edge-of-your-seat moments. Not to be reserved for middle school kids. Grown-ups need a little good fun, too. 

My thanks to Algonquin Books for the review copy!

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

Recent arrivals (left to right, all purchased but one):

• Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
• The Grand Tour by Adam O'Fallon Price
• The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan
• Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
• Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria
• Georgana's Secret by Arlem Hawks - from Shadow Mountain for book tour with Laurel Ann of Austenprose
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
• Natives by Akala

I haven't gone quite as wild on the last-minute book purchasing as I expected before my year of not buying begins but it's still a pretty significant stack. I have a few coming from Book Depository and a couple pre-ordered and then that should be it for the next year. 3 out of 5 friends and relatives surveyed think I can't make it a year without buying any books. They're probably right but I am determined to read what's on my shelves and really kind of excited about it. I'll write more about my non-buying and reading goals either just before or after New Year's. 

Some of these have been on my wish list for a while (Caste has been calling to me all year), others were bought more spontaneously (Sharks in the Time of Saviors — President Obama was my influence). In truth, I could have just stopped buying when I made the decision to read off my shelves for a year because it's not like I don't own enough books. But, I figured if I bought a few that have been calling to me, I'd be more likely to succeed. We'll find out, I guess. 

Georgana's Secret is the one tour book I received. While I don't plan to stop accepting children's books if they're offered and I may do an occasional book tour, I'm otherwise planning not to bring books into my home because the entire point is to lighten the load. I was able to get quite a few older titles that I'll never reread off the living room shelves and shift things around a bit so that some favorite authors' titles are together instead of scattered across various shelves, this weekend, so that felt like a good way to start. I'm really looking forward to Georgana's Secret. I've loved every book I've read from Shadow Mountain, so far, and I desire a little dose of romance, now and then. 

Books finished since last Malarkey:

• How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
• Christmas Truce by Aaron Shepard and Wendy Edelson
• 400 Minutes of Danger by Jack Heath 
• The 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar, ed. by Michael Hingston

Currently reading:

• How to Get Away with Myrtle (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries #2) by Elizabeth C. Bunce
• Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World by Fareed Zakaria

Myrtle is a fun character and I'm enjoying the book when I get a chance to read but reading time is scarce when the spouse is on vacation. I almost said "when the spouse is home" but he's been home since forever, now (um . . . 9 months?). I just started Ten Lessons because it kept calling to me and who am I to deny a book that is aching to be read? It's great, so far. 

Posts since last Malarkey:

• One Day in December by Josie Silver (book review)
• How to Walk Away by Katherine Center (book review)
• Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride (book review)
• Fiona Friday - Meowdeling (cat photo)
• 400 Minutes of Danger by Jack Heath (book review)
• Christmas Books! (mini book reviews)

Because I read so many children's books and gathered them all into one post, I got caught up on book reviews, again. But, since then I've finished my Short Story Advent Calendar and I hope to finish Myrtle tonight or tomorrow, then I'll be back in business. 

In other news:

We had another very quiet holiday but I decided that our grab-and-go Thanksgiving meal was just meh, so this time we went for a nice dinner and I've decided I'm never going to skip the formal Thanksgiving meal, again, with or without guests. 

We've watched more TV and movies than normal: 

• It's a Wonderful Life
• Wonder Woman 1984
• Cross Country Christmas
• The Mandalorian
• While You Were Sleeping
• The first episode of Stargirl

It's not a proper Christmas if I don't watch It's a Wonderful Life. And, I decided that While You Were Sleeping (an old family favorite) would be a good movie to add to the annual viewing tradition. It's not exactly a Christmas movie but it takes place mostly between Christmas and New Year's so it has the advantage of not being absolutely necessary to watch it by Christmas. We can just fit it into the season, somewhere. 

We finished the second season of The Mandalorian and loved the ending. Not sure where they can take it from that ending point, but it was a good one. I think we partly watched Stargirl because we both like Luke Wilson but it was pretty fun and we laughed a lot. Cross Country Christmas is the only Hallmark movie I specifically remember watching but I think we may have watched another or pieces of a couple, although none were particularly memorable. There was one with a prince whose wardrobe was very poorly fitted and I may have yelled, "Worst prince, ever!" at the TV.  I tend to yell at the TV during Hallmark movies. It's a thing. 

I have not seen the first Wonder Woman movie, so I had nothing to compare the new one with. Apparently, that's a good thing. Most of my friends hated Wonder Woman 1984, but I only found the ending a bit insane and too drawn out. Otherwise, I was fine with it. I was expecting not to like it at all and it kept my attention, so that was enough for me. I do want to see the original, though, since everyone says it's better. Oh, and we starting watching Chuck from the beginning, again. It's a series we watched and loved when it was new, so bit of a throwback going on. Still love it. 

It's a little early to say this but I hope 2021 is a fabulous year and a big improvement for all of us. I fear we are about to go through some very hard times, but I'm encouraged by the words of hope coming from our future president. 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Christmas books!

All of the books shown above are rereads and I have a feeling I've mentioned a couple of them in the past, so just some quickie thoughts about each:

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas is one of my favorite Christmas reads. I only discovered it a few years ago, when I was asked to make suggestions for short reads to discuss at my F2F group's Christmas meeting, and I've read it 3 times, since. 

Our snow was not only shaken from whitewash buckets down the sky, it came shaking out of the ground and swam and drifted out of the arms and hands and bodies of the trees; snow grew overnight on the roofs of the houses like a pure and grandfather moss, minutely white-ivied the walls and settled on the postman, opening the gate, like a dumb, numb thunderstorm of white, torn Christmas cards.

Oh, how I love A Child's Christmas in Wales. Absolutely captivating, humorous, and a pure delight. Dylan Thomas' use of language blows me away. The "fish-freezing waves" and "the gong was bombilating". I'm going to make reading it an annual tradition, along with . . . 

A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote, a timeless, beautiful story of an unusual friendship between cousins with decades between their ages but a tender relationship. They're impoverished but rich with the ability to find Christmas joy together. A Christmas Memory is such a lovely, meaningful book about the simple joys of Christmas. 

Isabel helped me out with another of my reads (mostly by sleeping next to me), A Little House Christmas: Holiday Stories from the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Wilder did such a wonderful job of describing where the family was living in each story and that particular year's circumstances (blizzard, life in a dirt home that had no stove, living near a small town where she had an uppity rival) that there's never a sensation that these stories were pulled out of context. 

As in A Christmas Memory, the stories in A Little House Christmas are about simple joy. Laura and Mary even talk themselves into being fine with no gifts at all when Pa needs a new horse, one winter. I haven't read A Little House Christmas in many years but I loved it so much that it made me want to go back and read the entire series. I don't think I ever actually read all of the Little House books, as a child, but I remember those I did read with affection. 

The only book from this batch that I didn't love was The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas by Madeleine L'Engle, which appears to be a Christmas story written as part of a series, the Austin Family Chronicles. I was unfamiliar with the characters and felt it a bit mediocre, even back when I bought it in the 90s. I'm pretty sure the only reason I kept it was the fact that I happened to be collecting books by Madeleine L'Engle, at the time. It's a nice enough story, just nothing brilliant. 

Vicky is worried that her heavily pregnant mother won't be able to attend the Christmas pageant but when a blizzard blows in while her father's away from home and her mother goes into labor but can't leave the house, she realizes what's really important. The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas is sweet and old-fashioned, a good reminder that a simple, traditional Christmas that's not all about the gifts is a lovely thing. But, it's mediocre enough that I'm going to part with my copy. 

I also got one new-to-me book (originally published in 2005, if I recall correctly), The Christmas Truce by Aaron Shepard and Wendy Edelson, a children's illustrated retelling of the true WWI story of the cessation of hostilities between British and German troops at Christmas. The soldiers shared food and drink, sang songs from their respective countries, and enjoyed a brief reprieve from fighting. It's told as a fictional letter home from the front but based on the stories told by those who were present. 

I thought The Christmas Truce was nicely written and the illustrations are fabulous. I'll probably forget to put it in the recent arrivals pile, next Monday, but I purchased it after looking for a different children's book about the Christmas Truce and finding that it's both out of print and out of my price range. 

This will be my last post of the week. I'll be back on Monday. 

Merry Christmas to all my book-loving friends! 

Love,

Bookfool

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

400 Minutes of Danger by Jack Heath

• Nika is halfway up the face of a glacier when she realizes it's melting from the inside and there's only a sheer face of ice that will fail soon, inundating the village in which her parents work for Doctors Without Borders. But, she's too far away. Can she find a way to save the village from catastrophe?
• While on a field trip in a national park, Charith spots a man creeping around with a gun. He tells his teacher and they hastily board the bus but the man gets ahead of them and plants a bomb in the road, severing their brake line and sending them careening down the mountain with a kid at the wheel. 
• Nancy is standing on the deck of a cruise ship when an island that shouldn't exist materializes out of the mist. Spotted by the people on shore, they are pursued and hit with missiles. But, Nancy left her dog in her cabin. Can she get down to the lower deck to save her dog without going down with the sinking ship? 

These are just a few of the short stories in 400 Minutes of Danger by Jack Heath, a middle grade book that is so tense and action-packed that I would not advise limiting it to a middle grade audience. Each story plunks the reader right at the beginning of a terrifying, taut situation in which the main character has a limited amount of time to figure out how to save someone, complete a dangerous job, or just survive. 

Highly recommended - Whether you have an action-loving child, one who doesn't love reading that you're trying to tempt, or just need a book that's great for breaking a reading slump, 400 Minutes of Danger is a perfect, fast-paced and lively, often outlandish, read. It took a while for me to realize that the stories in 400 Minutes of Danger are interconnected, as the author slowly drops clues and then nicely gathers those clues and explains them in the final story. I appreciated the way he wrapped things up but I would have also been perfectly happy if the stories had no connection because they're so entertaining. 400 Minutes of Danger is a wild ride not to be missed. 

My thanks to Sterling Children's books for the review copy! 

I have one more Jack Heath book for review and I would have been perfectly thrilled if Sterling had sent me everything he's ever written. I'll keep my copy of 400 Minutes of Danger for when I'm in a reading slump as this kind of fast-paced adventure is exactly what I need sometimes to break the spell. And, I'll be reading the next Jack Heath book, soon! 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Fiona Friday - Meowdeling

Fiona's working on perfecting her headshot in case of a future meowdeling career. 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride

Talk about an unusual read for this bookfool! I don't read true crime, anymore, and seldom read crime novels for the same reason. I used to read both all the time. I stopped reading true crime when my husband told me he was coming home to find me in tears a little too often and I needed to give it up. Crime novels and mysteries . . . burnout. I was addicted to a number of mystery series for several years and then just suddenly couldn't stand them. Now, I really no longer have the ability to freeze out the yuck from my brain (not that I was very good at it in the first place -- see: Husband Advice). But, after a slumpy month, I needed to shake up my reading and I've found the best way to knock myself out of a slump is to read something very different from my normal fare. So, there you go. 

Cold Granite does have a lot of gruesome scenes, incidentally. If you can't tolerate them (particularly if you're upset by crime against children) you might want to avoid this, although I think the writing is exceptional and it was because of that fact that I was able to overlook the most disgusting bits.

Detective Sergeant Logan McRae of Aberdeen, Scotland has just returned to work after nearly being killed in the line of duty. Now, Aberdeen seems to have a child killer on the loose. Within days, bodies are found and several children go missing. Logan is still occasionally having some trouble with his injury, so the new boss assigns a uniformed female Police Constable to work with him . . . or, maybe babysit him. He's not too happy about it, at first. 

There is so much that happens in this book that I don't think I can even unravel it enough to talk about the various threads but there's a man who has a mental problem and collects the dead animals he scoops up from the side of the road, a young man who has been caught in a crime of his own and has to testify about the abuse he suffered when he was in a hospital, and Logan dealing with a new boss who isn't sure he should be back at work and an old flame at work who wants to stay well away from him. There's also a reporter who keeps coming up with information he shouldn't have and publicizing it and he wants to weasel information out of Logan. Suffice it to say, Cold Granite is nicely complex and twisty. 

Meanwhile, it's very cold and snowy in Aberdeen, which feeds into the mood. There's mention of Christmas decorations, so there's a tiny bit of the season injected. It's way too grisly to call a Christmas read, though. 

Highly recommended but not for the faint of heart - I'm normally the faint of heart and I really had to work at shutting out the images of autopsies and decomposed bodies, but I thought Cold Granite was incredibly well-written with believable characters and dialogue and I liked Logan. Will I read on in the series? After closing the book, I felt tempted but I'm about to attempt a year-long book-buying ban and read only from my shelves (not even the library). So, it's very unlikely that I'll get to another MacBride book right away. However, I will definitely remember this author and series and I think someday I will try to read on. This particular book was originally published in 2005 so there are quite a few more books in the series. 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center

How to Walk Away by Katherine Center is about a young woman named Margaret who is in her 20s and looking forward to fulfilling her dreams. Margaret has a fresh MBA, a 3-story condo, and the promise of a lucrative job when her boyfriend, Chip, takes her for a flight in a private plane to propose to her. She's terrified of flying but gives in. When the flight ends in a crash and Margaret is both burned and paralyzed, her entire life is upended. Chip walked away without a scratch and she's been slotted with the least-talkative, meanest physical therapist, Ian. 

While Chip avoids visiting, her family (including the sister who hasn't spoken to her for 3 years) rallies around her but not always in a positive way. Will Margaret ever walk again? Will Margaret and Chip survive the guilt on one side and pain on the other? Will Margaret's sister Kitty and their mother, who drove Kitty away, ever be able to resolve their differences? 

How to Walk Away is a romance with plenty of meat on its bones. It takes a very serious subject, losing everything after a crash, and winds in slow destruction of certain hopes and dreams with a growing relationship. You know pretty early on some of what will happen and who Margaret will end up with because it's a romance and they're always obvious in that way. I personally found the direction it went immensely satisfying if a little cheesy, especially toward the end. 

Highly recommended - I love the blend of humor and anguish, heartbreak and hope. My only problem with How to Walk Away was the fact that Margaret had bought a 3-story condo on the promise of a lucrative job. I know that can happen but it felt just a bit too far-fetched for a twenty-something who has just finished her MBA. I loved the emotional impact of Margaret losing her dreams; it felt truly realistic. Some days Margaret was OK and some days she thought about giving up. I know the emotional rollercoaster of health drama and appreciated how genuinely those emotions were portrayed. And, of course, I loved the slow-burn romance. 

I've read 3 books by Katherine Center, now, and this one is one of my favorites. The other is Things You Save in a Fire. Here's my review of that one:

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

One Day in December by Josie Silver

Look, another e-book! I am on a roll, here, all the way up to one per month. 

One Day in December was my first read of the month and I chose it because the cover made it look light and fun. It got a lot of attention at some point, thanks to Reese's Book Club, and everyone seemed to be reading it at the time (Last year? The year before?), but I bought my electronic copy long after the buzz had died down. 

Laurie is sitting on the upper deck of a London bus when it pulls into a stop and she sees a man who instantly sets her heart aflame. Their eyes meet and he even attempts to board the bus, but he's too late. For a year, she looks for the man she has come to think of as "Bus Boy" but London is huge and she never manages to spot him, again. Just as she's finally decided to give up, her best friend and roommate brings home a new boyfriend, Jack, the man she claims that she intends to marry. And, you guessed it . . . he's Bus Boy. They recognize each other but pretend otherwise. Clearly, Jack is off-limits, now that he's dating Sarah. And Jack, likewise, is unwilling to hurt Sarah by acknowledging that he's seen Laurie before, although he remembers that fleeting connection that passed between them very well. 

Years pass. Laurie and Jack gradually become fast friends and they only cross the line once. Eventually, Laurie finds a love of her own. But, the reader knows Laurie and Jack are meant to be together. Will they ever find a way to each other?

Highly recommended - I loved One Day in December, not just for the romance but for the deep and enduring friendships throughout the book. Laurie and Sarah have an incredibly special relationship and this creates a tremendous tension. There's obviously always some kind of spark between Jack and Laurie. But, they're good people and neither would ever do anything they know will cause Sarah pain, so they work hard at becoming friends and suppressing their attraction. It's absolutely lovely how careful they are not to step out of bounds for the sake of their mutual friend. 

While One Day in December is not the kind of book my F2F group would discuss (they like literature; I can't imagine they'd go for anything romantic), I think there's a good deal to discuss. "What would you do?" is the most obvious question. What if you were Laurie? What if you were Jack? How would you react if you were Sarah and you found out about that one kiss? Should Laurie have immediately spoken up and said, "Hey, your new guy is Bus Boy"? 

Also, One Day in December is remarkably complex and believable, in my humble opinion. It isn't a quickie romance. Each year, Laurie writes down her goals and the reader sees how they play out. There are life changes for all of the characters, and the interaction between the characters has its ebbs and flows. Laurie's life is particularly complicated by the challenge of trying to find her place in the working world and by the health of her father, as well as the memory of a childhood loss. Jack, meanwhile, goes through a significant challenge of his own that threatens everything he holds dear. 

I loved this book and I'll definitely be looking for more by Josie Silver. It is, incidentally, always a sign that I enjoyed a book if I read it electronically and manage to finish. I still do have the problem of not feeling like e-books are real. It's very easy for me to set down my reader and forget I'm reading an e-book. So, if I finish it, I was engrossed. In this case, I was mesmerized, charmed, eager to find out what would happen, and ultimately satisfied. 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Monday Malarkey

Recent arrivals:

• A Promised Land by Barack Obama
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Samuel Johnson's Eternal Return by Martin Riker, and
• Boom Town by Sam Anderson - all purchased
• Shockwave by Jack Heath - from Sterling Children's Books for review

Three of these were on my wish list but I bought Samuel Johnson's Eternal Return after reading a short story by him in the Short Story Advent Calendar, which is not pictured but which also arrived during my blogging break. The Summer of Broken Things was a dollar store find. 

Books finished since last Malarkey:

• One Day in December by Josie Silver
• The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas by Madeleine L'Engle
• A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
• A Little House Christmas by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride
• A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

Most of these were very short (the Christmas books). One Day in December and Cold Granite were around 400 pages or a little over. So, not bad for about 11 days. Ditching the blog to read when you're slumpy always seems to work for me.  

Currently reading:

• How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
• 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar by Hingston and Olsen

I've wanted to get a Short Story Advent Calendar since Nat, formerly of In Spring it is the Dawn blog, talked about hers, several years ago. And, I cannot even begin to tell you how fun it is breaking the seal on a short story (or two -- I got mine a little late, as it came from Canada) each day. It's one of the highlights of my day. I'm also really enjoying How to Walk Away and I've been laughing at myself because I never noticed the plane on the cover till I started reading the book — just the flowers. A plane crash is the inciting incident so it's rather important. 

Posts since last Malarkey:

• A Castaway in Cornwall by Julie Klassen (book review)
• Trumpocracy by David Frum (book review)

In other news:

I'm working on thinking through my reading goals for 2021 and so far there's only one thing that's important to me: I want to stop buying books for the entire year (well . . . with a couple exceptions, like books by friends) and read off my shelves. I haven't got any blogging goals, yet. Still pondering. Admittedly, I bought at least two of this week's arrivals specifically because I'm about to stop buying books and wanted to make sure I got them before the end of the year. Neither of the two family members I told about this non-buying goal believe I will succeed. They have good reason to feel that way. 

Movie-wise, we've watched a bunch of Hallmark movies, at least two episodes of The Mandalorian, one of Life on Mars (we grew tired of it in the middle of the second season and took a break but we're back to watching it), and Persuasion, the 2007 version starring Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth. We also got 2/3 of the way through Romancing the Stone but we'll have to finish that up tonight. Both of us decided we were too tired to finish the entire movie. 

The only other news is that we still have shelves and boxes of books crammed into a couple of our rooms because of the leak that damaged our living room flooring (did I tell you about that?) but it looks like the two boxes of flooring left by the previous owner are going to cover the damaged bits! Yay! We didn't think we had enough till we moved the shelves but there was no damage beneath them. Oddly, there's damage on either side. We still haven't figured that out, but it's mostly replaced and the leak has been repaired so maybe we'll have those shelves back in place by Christmas. 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Back soon

I have literally run out of books to review because of my recent reading slump so I'm going to take a short break from the blog to read until I have plenty to write about. Back soon!

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Trumpocracy by David Frum

First things first: Trumpocracy by David Frum (a conservative journalist) is outdated as it only covers the current president's first year in office. That's important to know but it's still worth the read, in my humble opinion. Some of Frum's conclusions turned out to be wrong and I don't always agree with him but he nicely lays out the many corrupt actions the president took during his first year, as well as those of his family, plus his many business connections to Russia and the back-channel connections put in place by his son-in-law. No, the Russian connections are not a hoax. Read the Mueller Report if you're scowling, at this point. And, while the president tried to convince the public that he had separated himself from his business interests, early on, Frum also goes into how and why it was obvious that wasn't the case. 

I read much of this as it was unfolding but had forgotten quite a bit. Some of it was new to me, but very little. Frum's explanation as to why House and Senate Republicans did an immediate about-face and fell into line behind the incoming president after so many senators said electing him would be a disaster makes perfect sense: an unpopular president tends to drag the rest of his party down with him in elections. So, they had to prop him up. 

Frum has a newer book coming out and I'm curious what he has to say, 3 years on, but I don't know if I'll read it. The new book, Trumpocalypse, comes out in May of 2021. 

Recommended but outdated - Outdated or not, I still enjoyed reading Trumpocracy for the reminder of what I'd already forgotten, how immediately and completely the president showed himself, his family, and his cabinet's corruption. Again, I don't always agree with Frum. He has opinions that don't meld with mine, although he's very up-front about what he believes and I think that his candor allows the reader to understand where he's coming from without feeling as if he's trying to hammer home his own viewpoint. It's also quite an organized read without a lot of bouncing back and forth in time, which I definitely appreciated. 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

A Castaway in Cornwall by Julie Klassen

I made the cover image really big because I love this cover. I felt transported to the time and place of A Castaway in Cornwall every time I looked at that cover. 

In A Castaway in Cornwall by Julie Klassen, Laura is living with her Uncle Matthew, his wife, and her daughter, Eseld in Cornwall. The year is 1813 and England is at war with France. Orphaned as an adolescent, Laura longs to visit the isle of Jersey to see her parents' graves. She feels as if she was cast aside by them when they went to tend to her sick aunt. 

Near Laura's home is a dangerous reef that is notorious for causing shipwrecks and Laura has a habit of salvaging items she finds on the rocky shore, cleaning them, searching for the loved ones of those who died in a shipwreck, and returning the items if she can. But, there are dangerous men who will do anything to acquire the cargo of a wrecked ship.

When the Kittiwake is wrecked and Laura finds a man nearly drowned on the beach, one of those dangerous wreckers threatens to kill him but Laura protects him and nurses him back to health. Alexander, the survivor, claims to have been returning to his home in Jersey. But, he is keeping secrets from the people who help him. Where is Alexander really from? Is he a dangerous escaped prisoner? When Laura finds herself falling for him, is she making a mistake? Will he end up leaving for his home, never to return? 

There's a lot that I'm leaving out because I think it's best to let this one unfold and I don't want to spoil any of the surprises. I enjoyed how it played out and I was happy with the ending, although a few too many people found romance in a fairly short timespan and that felt a little over-the-top, at least to me. 

Recommended - I should mention that last week was such a stressful week that I had a terrible time reading and didn't even read at all for 3 days in a row (shocking!) so my reading of A Castaway in Cornwall was likely colored by my inability to focus. So, please take my thoughts as atypical. I enjoyed A Castaway in Cornwall but since I was struggling to read, I never felt truly sucked in by the story and normally would have stopped to read something quick and easy then returned to it. But, I was scheduled for a tour so I didn't feel like I had the time to do what I normally do when I'm having difficulty focusing. Probably because of that, the story felt like it was too descriptive and drawn out. I have enjoyed Julie Klassen's books immensely, in the past, and the ratings of A Castaway in Cornwall are very high at Goodreads; it probably would have been a pretty quick read and more enjoyable at any other time. I did like the main characters and was rooting for them. 

Many thanks to Bethany House for the review copy and Laurel Ann for the opportunity to tour this book! 

©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.